The Place I Call Home
I come from a beautiful country in the south of Africa called Zimbabwe.It shares a border with South Africa (south), Botswana (south-west), Zambia (north) and Mozambique(east). The country is made of majority Shona people, followed by the Ndebele and other minority tribes. Zimbabwe was formally known as Rhodesia while it was still a British colony but officially became Zimbabwe when we won independence in April 1980.
Victoria Falls
Image credit: The Victoria Falls by Kelly Cheng Travel Photography via iStock
Once accredited to be one of the 7 wonders of the world: Victoria Falls. Splitting Zimbabwe and Zambia, the Zambezi River flows across a flat plain that expands almost 2 kilometres and reaches a fall that is 108 metres high! The spray from the waterfall can be seen from 50 kilometres away. On the Zimbabwean side is a unit habitat that is home to some of the world’s most distinct plants and animals and is the only rainforest in the world where it rains continuously thanks to the falls. (Planet Rail, 2018).
Great Zimbabwe Ruins
Image credit: The Great Zimbabwe Ruins by mbrand85 via iStock
These stone ruins are now known as Great Zimbabwe. They make up the largest stone structure in precolonial Southern Africa. It was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries over 722 hectares in the southern part of the country. At its peak, it is estimated more than 18,000 people lived there. (The Guardian, 2016). Today, it is a world heritage site and is open to tour and hike and learn more in depth about the history from the locals.
Kariba
Image credit: A stone carving of Nyaminyami by Utopia_88 via iStock
This destination has a bit of a story, a legend if you will. Lake Kariba is the world’s largest man-made lake and reservoir by volume, also found between the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia, it is fed by the Zambezi River. The Tonga tribe that has inhibited the banks of the river for many years believe in a god they call “Nyami Nyami” – an ancient and powerful force. To them, he is their protector and provider. It is believed that he and his wife lived together in the waters of Lake Kariba, and when the dam wall was built his wife had travelled down the river to visit locals in the valley and the wall permanently separated them. This angered Nyami Nyami and he caused unrest, devastation and floods in the land…. (HA, 2024).